Walking, such simple joy
by Arasia
Summary: Ichigo discovers how much joy Orihime brings just walking her home from school.


**notes.** This was written for round 1 of the ichihimefanfestcommunity, under the theme high school sweethearts, prompt #12 "Ichigo and Orihime walk home from school together."

**author notes.** It's my first time writing a bleach/ichihime fic, so please be kind to me! Sorry if it isn't any good, but thank you for taking the time to read this all the same :) There's a little omake at the end too, for laughs :p

"Oof."

Orihime's arms strained as she straightened to lift the heavy load in her hands. She struggled the few steps to the teacher's desk at the front of the classroom, then plopped the stack of books down on it's surface.

Orihime surveyed the classroom. Floor swept - check. Tables straightened - check. Blackboard cleaned - check. Windows cleaned - check. The blazing orange sky held Orihime's eyes as she gazed out the window. Her lips curved into a smile as she thought about how much the brilliant sunset reminded her of Ichigo's hair. Just then, the door to the classroom slid open. Mouth falling open slightly, Orihime turned to the door in surprise.

"Oh, Inoue," Ichigo said, surprise also clear in his voice, his eyebrows slightly raised. "You're still here?"

"Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime called out happily. She noticed that he was in his soccer uniform with a rucksack slung over his shoulder, his tall and toned body covered in a light sheen of perspiration. "I was doing my classroom duties! Have you just finished your job at the soccer club?"

A scowl formed on Ichigo's face. "Yea, I did. Inoue, why are you doing the classroom duties alone? Where's your classroom duty partner?"

"Oh Sakuraba-kun got a call from his friend inviting him to a goukon and he looked so sad that he couldn't go because a girl he liked for a long time was going so I told him to go ahead and not to worry and that I could handle the classroom duties myself!"

_'Still as selfless as ever...' _Ichigo thought amusedly, gazing at the girl framed by the brilliant rays of the setting sun, making her auburn hair shine like finely spun gold. Outwardly though, his frown deepened as he stepped towards her. "That still doesn't make it ok for him to ditch his classroom duties and leave _you_to do them alone. I'll have to speak to him about this tomorrow..."

"Oh, no no no, Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime cried, flailing her arms. "It's really alright! It's not Sakuraba-kun's fault at all! I'm the one who told him to go and he was hesitant but I insisted and he was very apologetic about it!"

"Still..."

"Ne, Kurosaki-kun, it's really alright! See, I finished everything by myself and nothing went wrong, right?" Orihime chirped as she flashed him a wide smile.

"Yea, I guess so..." Ichigo said, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. '_This girl, she can disarm me just by a smile or the sound of her voice...'_

'

"What else do you have left to do, Inoue? Just delivering the exercise books to the teacher's room?" Ichigo asked, speaking as he crossed the classroom to his desk. "Yep!" Orihime turned around to face him, nodding happily as she answered in the affirmative.

"Ok." Ichigo rummaged about in his desk and bag. "Give me a couple of minutes and I'll help you carry them down. Oh, go grab your bag too. I'll walk you home after we've dropped off the books."

"Eh?" Orihime flushed a deep red. "W-Walk me home?"

"Yea. It's getting late and it'll be dark soon. I'll feel better knowing you're safe if I walk you home."

Recalling her once lost chance at having Ichigo walk her home, Orihime tried to still her rapidly beating heart as she replied softly, "O...Ok, Kurosaki-kun. Thank you."

Ichigo stuffed the book he had retrieved from his table into his bag and walked over. As he neared, Orihime could smell a faint waft of freshly cut grass from his stint on the soccer field mixed with his usual spicy scent. _'It smells good on him,'_she thought, a light blush dusting her cheeks. Ichigo picked up the stack of exercise books on the table and waited as Orihime continued to blush while gathering her things.

"Ano... I should help you carry some of those, Kurosaki-kun..."

"Don't be silly. Let's go." Not being a person of much words, Ichigo instead turned and made his way towards the door, pausing for her to catch up before exiting the room together.

As they strolled out of the school gates and down the street, Orihime hoped the grin of joy on her face didn't look too silly. Ichigo glanced sideways at her and smiled slightly. "It's nice to see you always so happy, Inoue."

"E-Eh? W-well, I get amused easily... And it's easy to laugh and stay happy when I have Kurosaki-kun, Tatsuki-chan and everyone else around me..." Orihime brought her hands to her flaming cheeks, her heart thundering in her chest at her bold words.

"I'm glad for that, Inoue. I think you make the people around you smile too." Ichigo commented, as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and smiled up at the darkening sky. Orihime's blush intensified and she tried to stop the steam from pouring out of her ears. "T-thank you, Kurosaki-kun..." she whispered.

They walked on in companionable silence for a while before Ichigo spoke."Hey Inoue, do you like swings?" Orihime's head snapped up, her eyes shining. "There's one half hidden behind some trees over there if we take a small detour. You wanna go?"

"I'll take that as a yes then," Ichigo smirked, as she nodded furiously. When the park came into sight, Orihime exclaimed happily and ran exuberantly towards the swings, dropping her bag on the way. Ichigo sauntered over, dropping his bag next to hers as he watched the gleeful girl with an amused smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Ne, Kurosaki-kun, look how high I can go!" Orihime called, pumping her legs and pushing the swing into the air. Ichigo gazed fondly at the girl as she swung higher and higher, delight evident on her face as she laughed. _'Im glad I managed to protect you... And your smile. Would it be selfish of me if I wanted to keep you with me just a bit longer?' _Gripped by a surge of warmth in his chest, Ichigo impulsively asked, "Hey, Inoue. Let's go grab a snack later. I'll treat you to a taiyaki. Red bean filling of course."

Orihime's eyes widened, her swinging forgotten for a while, causing the swing to lose it's momentum and slow down. "H-hey. Your swing's stopping." Ichigo muttered, his face red and lowered to hide his face beneath his bangs in embarrassment. _'Shit, I really said it.'_ He got behind the swing quickly so that Orihime couldn't see just how badly he was blushing, and gently started pushing her higher.

Orihime's face was still frozen in shock as she replayed his words in her mind. Her vivid imagination conjured up an image of Ichigo ripping off a cape from around his shoulders to reveal a loose, half unbuttoned shirt with his tanned, broad, muscular chest showing through, asking her if she would like some red bean taiyaki. Squealing in her head, she blurted "Yes, Kurosaki-kun! I love yo-I mean, I would love to go get a taiyaki!" Hearing her consent, Ichigo relaxed and continued his gentle pushing, each touch of his hands on the small of her back sending tingles up her spine.

By the time they got to the taiyaki shop, it was already dark. Ichigo had called home on their way there to inform Yuzu that he would be skipping the "Traditional 7pm Kurosaki Household Dinner", Isshin's loud shouts over the phone causing Orihime to giggle.

"You like sweet stuff right, Inoue? I'll get you a custard one too." Ichigo turned before she could protest and ordered a chocolate one for himself and a custard and a red bean paste one for her.

They blew on the hot taiyaki as they walked down the street away from the dazzling lights of the shops. Ichigo watched as Orihime bit happily down on the snack in her hands. Seeing how cute she looked eating, Ichigo had a sudden urge to reach out and ruffle her hair, just about restraining himself in time to refrain from doing so. _'What am I doing? I'm not behaving like myself today. But then again, my self control always seems to slip when I'm around her...'_

Orihime blinked and smiled brightly up at Ichigo, mumbling her thanks through a mouthful of food. He felt that warmth swell up in his chest again, straining to pull himself back from reaching out to hug her. He turned away and busied himself with eating his taiyaki to distract himself.

'I wouldn't mind walking her home like this everyday...'

_Omake  
><em>

"Ne, Kurosaki-kun, look how high I can go!" Orihime called, pumping her legs and pushing the swing into the air. As she swung back down, the movement lifted her pleated skirt and a pair of pink flower printed panties flashed at Ichigo. He flushed a bright scarlet and sputtered. "Oi, Inoue! T-tuck your skirt down!" Orihime slowed the swing and peeked down. "Oh! Sorry Kurosaki-kun! Tatsuki-chan always scolds me about this too when I go to the swings with her..."


End file.
